An electrician was forced to record goodbye messages for his family after becoming trapped for hours inside a gas station sign more than 130 feet off the ground on July 21. A.J. Gow was working on the sign in Wilmington, Illinois, when a mechanical failure with the boom lift he was using left him stranded in a small compartment at the top.
Fearing for his life as hours passed without water or a fan in the intense heat, Gow used his phone to record messages for his wife and children. "In the moment, it was getting hairy, I was genuinely getting scared, and I didn’t know what was going to happen," Gow told ABC7 Chicago. "So essentially a goodbye without saying goodbye."
The rescue effort was complicated by the sign's extreme height. Local fire department ladders could only reach about 100 feet, and Gow had no safe means to descend from within the structure. Emergency services searched nearby cities for equipment capable of reaching him.
Ultimately, a sufficiently tall lift was located in Joliet, and Illinois State Police assisted in escorting the equipment to the scene. Rescuers were then able to position the lift and bring Gow safely to the ground.
"Although unconventional means were used to effect the rescue due to circumstances, everyone went home safe and uninjured yesterday," Wilmington Fire Protection District Deputy Chief Todd Friddle told PEOPLE. Gow later expressed surprise at the media attention his ordeal attracted.
Following the incident, Gow stated he plans to take greater precautions when working at heights, intending to remain inside the lift bucket rather than exiting into the structure itself to avoid a repeat of the dangerous situation.